THE VIKING WAY (Part 1)

DAY THREE 
 Byards Leap to Allington
(18.4 miles)

Why ?  Why do we continue to build up the England football team ahead of the big tournaments?  " Football's coming home"?    The team look like they might be coming home !  Anyway, back to the walk ...

Breakfast at Byards Leap was plentiful .. which is to say plenty of grease ...

Perhaps that is a bit harsh.  There really was a hearty full english breakfast with as much toast and tea as you like.   It's just that the days of a fried breakfast have long gone, no?  Grilled is the new fried.  And I'm still waiting for a proper Lincolnshire sausage ...

No sooner had we stepped out of the door, and the first drops of rain started falling.  We quickly donned waterproofs and were soon very grateful that we had.    The day's walk started by following a 'sunken path' alongside the Ancaster road, and as in previous days the long and soggy grass and vegetation flopped over the narrow path meaning we would have been soaked from above and below had it not been for those waterproofs.   Steve's leaky boot meant a soggy foot from 'the off', though ...

Before too long we turned away from the road to follow field margins and paths, but were still blighted by the soggy grass and persistent, though light, rain.   Beyond Carlton Scroop (brilliant name for a Dickens villain, don't you think ?) the rain stopped for a short time affording us a great view across the valley of Honington Beck ... but then the heavens opened and the rain set in once again, and remained for the rest of the day.

As luck would have it, the rain did stop for a short time - at lunch time - as we were passing beside the largest sewage treatment works in the whole of Lincolnshire.  Yes, sir - we know how to have a great time!  Just as we were preparing to set of walking - yes, you got it - it stared to rain again.

More field paths, more rain, more soggy vegetation ...

After crossing above the A1 beyond Long Bennington, we met up with the Sewstern Lane, an ancient track first used in the bronze age,  that we would be following for the next day or so.  Much to our relief, this stretch was a tarmac road which meant no wet grass.  Yes !!

For the first time since setting out this morning, we were starting to dry out.  Even Steve's boot had stopped squelching at every step.   But of course we should have known that this was just a temporary blip.   The diversion off of the Viking Way into Allington for our accommodation was completely overgrown.  Instead of wading through knee-high soggy grass, we now found ourselves fighting through head-high vegetation .. and it was raining harder.

We finally arrived at Allington Manor absolutely soaked and thoroughly miserable, but were welcomed in and shown to our room and shortly afterwards a huge pot of tea and some biscuits arrived.   Not so bad an end to the day, after all.

Our evening meal was taken at The Welby Arms - a surprisingly lively and welcoming pub considering the diminutive size of the village.  Food was excellent and in huge proportions, just what a couple of rugged (if soggy) walkers' doctor would have ordered.